Improvement in canceling-stamps



W. D. WESSON. cANcELxNe-STAMPS.

No. 195,552.A Patented sept.25.1e77.

FICH 5.

FICHE.

INVENTH.

ATTEST.

:Illia/11 UNITED STATE-s PATENT CFFIoE.

WALTER D. WESSON, OF PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND, ASSIGNOR OF ONE- HALF HISRIGHT TO AVERY B. FOSTER, OF SAME PLACE.

:IM PROVEMENT 4l-N CANCELING-STAMPS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent N o. 195,552, datedSeptember 25, 1877; application led v May 16, 1877.

To all whom 'it may concern l Be it known that I, WALTER D. WEssoN, ofthe city and county of Providence, in the State of Rhode Island, haveinvented anew and Improved CancelingStamp; and declare the following tobe a specification thereof.

In the accompanying drawings like letters indicate like parts.

Figure 1 is a vertical section of my invention on the line .n x( Fig. 2is an end view, showing the face of my stamp. Figs. 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7are detail :vie-ws.

My invention is designed to be used in the canceling of postage,revenue, or other stamps. Great loss is sustained by the Government inthe repeated use of stamps which have not been sufficiently canceled,and which, being removed from the envelope or paper, are cleaned of thepostmarks by treatment with acid or otherwise. The use of mycancelingstamp effectually destroys the stamp and renders it worthlessfor further use. This it accomplishes by obliterating it with ink in theusual manner, and especially by tearing out or from the stamp a portionthereof, so mutilating it that it cannot be restored.

My invention is especially designed to be used in connection with thepostage-stamp invented by me, and for which I have applied for LettersPatent of the United States. That stamp is only partially gummed,leaving the central or other defined portion to liev upon withoutadhering to the envelope, so that the piece torn out is wholly detachedand taken away from the remainder of the stamp. Useful results, however,can be obtained by the use of my invention upon stamps prepared in theusual manner.

My invention'consists, essentially, in a circular perforator, withinwhich turns (by means of a spiral slot engaged upon a fixed transversepin) a mutilator having a series of teeth or points.

The handle A is set into and fastened within the socket B by a pin, a.The case C, which contains the working parts, is screwed into the socketB. The case G has two compartments, one for the working parts and onefor the types. Within the former the nut D furnishes a bearing for thespiral spring E. This spring also bears upon and crowds outwardly theperforator F, (which is separately shown in Fig. 5.) This perforator istubular, and has two longitudinal slots, b, opposite each other, and hasa vertical movement upon the ixed pin c, which passes from side to sidethrough the slots b. The lower edge of the perforator consists of sharppoints, which together make a circle of perforations through the stamp,and deiine the piece which is to be taken out. By means of ascrew-thread, d, the obliterator or metallic ring G is fastened to theperforator F. An india-rubber washer, c, isv placed between theperforator F and the obliterator G. Within the parts F and G, andconcentric with them, is the mutilator H, (shown in Fig. 6,) havingavertical spiral motion by means of two spiral slots, f, upon itsopposite sides along the fixed pin c. The face of the mutilator H is aseries of sharp teeth or points, which, in turning, as above described,seize and tear out the piece of the stamp defined by the perforations,leaving a ragged edge all around, and effectually defacing anddestroying the stamp. In the other compartment of the case is the typeI. The types are convex on their upper long side and concave on theinner, (see Figs. 3 and 4,) and are slightly wedge-shaped. They are setwithin the block J, as shown in Figs. 2 and 3, and bear against theinner surface ofthe socket B. The name of the post-office is cut in themargin ofthe case C.

The operation is as follows: The parts F, G, and H project beyond theface of the case O, being crowded outwardly by the spiral spring E. Thecanceling-stamp, being first inked on a pad, as usual, is struck uponthe postage-stamp. The obliterator G imprints the usual cancellationupon it. The perforator F at the same instant pierces the postagestampwith a circle of perforations, and then, by the force of the blow, isdriven upward Within the case, traveling upon the tixed pin c by meansof its vertical slots. At the same time the mutilator H, traveling onvthe pin c, by means of its spiral slots f, gives a slight rotary motionto the set of points or teeth, and so tears or twists out of thepostagestamp that part circumscribed by the perforations. When this workhas been done the typesirnprint the date and name of post-oce in theusual way. As the canceling-stamp is withdrawn the spiral spring bringsthe working parts back to their former position. The obliterator G,being screwed upon the perforator F, graduates the depth oi theperforations.

The mutilating parts are preferably placed eccentrically within thecircle of the face of the case C, in order to allow the date and name tobe printed outside of the postagestamp. It is obvious, however, thatthese working parts might be placed concentric with the postmarker.

I am aware that it is not new to use an annular cutter or knife todeface a postagestamp. Such a cutter makes a clean continuous cut, notonly through the stamp, but also through the envelope itself, exposingor injuring its contents, and it is found practically impossible tograduate the cutter to so fine a distance as the thickness of a singlelayer of paper. When a postage-stamp is gummed upon an envelope in theusual way they become so solidly united as to form but a singlethickness, and a cut through one must penetrate through the other, thediierence in thickness being almost inappreciable. With my improvedpostage-stamp, for which this my canceling-stamp is particularlydesigned, the center of the postage-stamp, being ungummed, lies as aseparate layer upon the envelope, and can be cut without injury to theenvelope beneath. The perforator, indeed, has a vertical motion, but atthe worst can only make a circle of ne piercings in the envelope, whilethe mutilator H has a .horizontal rotary motion, and can aect only theoutside layer of paper, which is the postage-stamp itself. Theperforations are useful to enable the mutilator to tear out a certaindefinite piece, and to leave a ragged edge.

I claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent- 1. Thecombination of the rotating mutilator H, the annular perforator F, andthe obliterator G, all arranged as specified, and operatingsubstantially as shown and described.

2. The improved canceling-stamp herein described, consisting of thehandle A, socket B, case C, nut D, spiral spring E, slotted perforatorF, fixed pin c, obliterator G, spirallyslotted mutilator H, type I, andblock J, substantially as described.

WALTER D. WESSON.

Witnesses:

J. ERAs'rUs LESTER, WARREN R. PERoE.

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